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option contract

contractual agreement enabling the holder to buy or sell a security at a designated price for a specified period of time, unaffected by movements in its market price during the period. Put and
call options, purchased both for speculative and hedging reasons, are made by persons anticipating changes in stock prices. A put gives its holder an option to sell, or put, shares to the other party at...

...calls.
A put is a contract that permits the holder to deliver to the purchaser a specified number of shares of stock at a fixed price within a designated period of time, say six months; a
call entitles him to buy shares from the seller within a given period. For example, a person who buys a stock hoping to sell it later at a higher price may also buy a put as a hedge against a...

origination by Sage

In 1872 Sage originated stock market “puts and calls,” which are options to buy or sell a set amount of stock at a set price and within a given time limit. By manipulating securities, he and Gould gained control of the New York City elevated lines in 1881. Sage lost on the stock market only once, in the panic of 1884. He lost $7 million and never again dealt in puts and calls....